On to the walls...

So we reach another Friday and I've a relatively large number of pictures to go through so let's see how long this gets.

Xena decides to sit on top of Louise

I'll start with Louise, who was comfortably asleep a few minute prior to this picture, being sat on by Xena who has no concept of personal space. I did move her after taking the picture. Poor Louise.

A load of sand delivered for Rosie

Halil removing the old wooden supports

Bekir fits a double socket on the wall

Halil manually carrying sand to the landing

A dry mix of sand and lime

First thing this morning we had a sand delivery which I was able to pay for, and also the previous delivery that we'd never paid for apparently, so that's good. One less debt. Bekir and Halil were straight up onto the stairs getting a few bits of clearing up, like removing the old wooden supports for the old consumer unit, and Bekir also fitted the double plug on the wall. Then Halil got started with many trips with two buckets carrying sand and lime up to the landing where they then did the dry mix which took some time as the lime is now quite old and lumpy.

Water used to wash down the walls

Mixing together to get ready for mortaring

Bekir starts throwing mud

There really was a lot of dust and loose rubble on these old walls so they brought the hose up and washed down the walls and floor which made quite a mess, but was a necessary step. After that it was more water as they worked together to mix the sand and lime into an applicable state and then the big moment as the first of the mud was thrown at the wall. This is great, it's been ten years since we started on the new roof and finally we're able to finish off and tidy up this part of the building.

The side gate is very overgrown

A whole lot of weeding done

Getting stuck in down here as well

Cleared about half of this area of the garden

After my very a very busy day at my desk I headed into the garden to blow the cobwebs and get something done, focusing on weeding first by the side gate, which was dramatically overgrown and took some clearing, and then down to the front garden by the old path where I pulled up loads of sticky weeds and other nastiness and got about half of it done before I absolutely had to head inside to start cooking my dinner.

A good solid meal

Talking of dinner I cooked pie, chips, onion rings and breaded mushrooms and it was very tasty indeed, and much needed after my long day.

In other news the key arrived for the roof box, which is a relief, so this weekend I can get that onto Maisie. Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll be back on Monday.

A finishing up day

Today has been so unbelievably busy I wasn't able to get upstairs for many pictures at all however the men have cracked on through the day.

Bekir in a tangle of wires

Halil points to the new plastering he did

Sweeping and tidying up

Plastering this bit again

Rewiring with the box the right way up

It turns out Bekir hadn't quite done all the wiring yesterday; he was putting in the cable for the landing on the stairs at first and then went to work on the junction box that will supply the bedroom. Halil was getting stuck in, as he does, first of all doing some more plastering to finish up above the stairs and then cleaning and tidying everything up from all the work they have done. Then he spotted some plastering he wasn't very pleased with and so did another skim on there. Meanwhile Bekir had finished the bedroom wiring and noticed that one of the big consumer units he had mounted yesterday was on upside down so he took it apart and rewired it. And that is that, we are now finished with the wiring and can start the stairwell walls tomorrow.

Lovely purple flags

Pizza, orangeade and a Tom Clancy book

I noticed yesterday that our flags are starting to bloom which is always a lovely thing to see. I also today finally decided to go out for dinner, having not been in the mood for the past week. It was nice enough and mainly because I got to read some of my book.

Rewiring at speed

Today has been a day when more progress is made than I expected, which doesn't happen all that often so I like it when it does.

Thelma snoozes on my pillow

First, though, back to yesterday evening and after writing the blog I went onto the patio with the puppies to enjoy the evening before the forecast rain (which hasn't really lived up to expectations). Louise was on my lap and I stood up and she wasn't ready (I think) so she fell and hurt herself. At first I thought she was ok but a few minutes after she started acting very strange, almost like having a spasm. I immediately sped as fast as I could to the vet who was in waiting when I got to his office; of course Louise, who had been acting strange (twisting and falling over) the whole way there , took one look at the vet and ran for it, showing no signs of discomfort at all! He checked her over and sent us on our way and since then she has been fine. Accompanying this paragraph is a picture of Thelma asleep on the pillow next to me last night.

Making a start on the electrics

Halil gets the last bits of plastering done

Cables now running to the new ring

A big moment as the old box is removed

Halil clearing up by the double doors

Bekir working on the final distribution box

Halil sweeping down the stairs

Today was a big day as Bekir began (and almost completed, I think) the process of removing the old consumer unit distribution box on the stairs and connecting every old supply to the new ring we have installed along the wall. Halil, for his part, cracked on with the last of the plastering of the ceiling and now we do not have the beams across the stairs that made it so difficult to climb the stairs. They both worked steadily through the day, with Halil moving on to cleaning and sweeping and preparing for the next task which is working on the walls by the stairs so they can be sealed and smooth and plastered before we finally do the stairs. Bekir got all the wiring done, though I don't know if there'll be more to do tomorrow to tidy up, before they headed off.

Assembling the new chest of drawers

Cooking up stuff from the fridge into an omelet

I headed out late afternoon to get a few things and swung past the courier to collect the two chests of drawers that we ordered so when I got back I was straight into assembling the first one (and I'm going to go finish this up after publishing this blog). Dinner was a "use things up from the fridge" omelet which was actually really nice, and enough to leave half for lunch tomorrow which is a bonus.

So there it is; another day done, and a great progress day at that. Thanks for reading and back tomorrow.

Missed yesterday with a headache.

Yesterday I completely forgot that I was supposed to do this update as I went to bed so early with a horrible headache. Oh well, just makes today's update a little longer. Let's cover the weekend first.

Dippy Duck Eggs for breakfast!

My favourite starter at the Italian restaurant

Louise enjoys my bivvy

Getting the tent sorted

Rosie's new toy

Saturday was a day of food and travelling at first; I had dippy duck eggs for breakfast, which was great, and then drove Maisie up to Jumbo to give her a work out and pick up some things I wanted and needed which was a great success. On the way back I stopped at the Italian restaurant for lunch which was excellent as always and then my drive home was good, though I was tired when it was done. I did not stop, however, as I pulled the bivvy out and pitched it out just to check everything was still OK, which it was. Louise particularly appreciated the soft bedding I've bought. While at Jumbo I picked up a few things, one of which were these two bags that are perfect for the additional stuff that came with the huge tent. Now I just need the trailer and we're set. I also bought a basketball hoop for Rosie (the reason I went) which I assembled. She's going to love that!

The bricks are tidied so now I can cut the grass here

This area was getting very overgrown

The birds are loving the grass cuttings

All neat and tidy right down to the gate

Maisie has a bars on now

Everything fits fine, with space to spare

Sunday I was out relatively early with the new push along mower taking down all the areas I hadn't been able to do with the ride-on before it rained last time. I also tidied up a load of bricks that had fallen onto the grass and was able to cut all along the front of the Green Building with no problem. I had the idea of giving the grass cuttings to the chickens and ducks and they were loving it so I continued this for all my grass cuttings. This session I managed to get all the way down to the gate done and it was looking a whole lot better. I didn't stop there, however, as next I put the roof bars on Maisie and then went to try and fit the roof box only to find that we had no keys for it! I'm sure we used to have more than one key however I could not find the spare, and the other one had headed off on holiday with Angela. This one is now with a courier being brought back! I practiced packing anyway, just into the boot, and fitted pretty much everything in so that makes me happier.

Bekir is fine with these beams

Halil is less happy to put his weight on them

They got some new boards to use

Bekir working the other side, on the old beams

Halil much happier now with the new beams

The grass is all cut and tidy now

Working away together upstairs

Filling gaps carefully

The men were in yesterday (and so I should, as I say, have done this update then but never mind) and they were back into the roof doing the plastering of the ceiling above the stairs. Halil was very unhappy about the old beams that Bekir was using for the scaffold so they ordered and then collected two large new wooden planks, after which he was happy to stand on them. I headed out during the afternoon on the ride-on and mowed the two front lawns that were starting to get a bit shaggy; about half an hour after I finished it rained so that was perfect timing. The men made some pretty awesome progress upstairs with before they headed off and then I had some food then took myself to a very early night to try and recover for today.

Xena sat on my shoulder

Halil plastering more of the ceiling

Bekir working on the wiring

Yet more plastering being done

Wiring up a new distribution box for the guest suite

I did sleep through however still woke feeling very groggy and shaky first thing; Xena was up on my shoulder checking I was ok which was nice, and thankfully I've recovered a lot through the day. The men were in again and this time split their tasks. Halil continued with the plastering while Bekir began the process of moving the electrics from where the current distribution box is on the stairs over to the new one in the crawl space. This is required so they can then finish and plaster the walls on the stairs. This is something I've been waiting for them to do for a long time so I'm pretty excited indeed!

So there it is; thanks for reading and back tomorrow.